For a weekend anticipated to be a washout for fishermen, it was an active three days at Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby headquarters in Edgartown.

Bracing for the worst of tropical storm Ophelia, fishermen across the Island only had to endure heavy rains and scattered rumbles of thunder Friday and Saturday morning - a far cry from the strong winds and storm surges called for by forecasters. And that was good news as the derby moved into its second week: since Friday, many of the top spots on the leader boards have seen new names.

 

Although the full brunt of Ophelia missed the Island, the churning seas appeared to have forced the fish closer to shore, as many of the shore categories saw big changes in the leader boards. In fact, with the exception of striped bass, all categories saw shifts in the top spots over the weekend.

Yesterday morning Michael Adams took over the top spot in the shore bluefish category, weighing in a 11.74-pound fish. He unseated Robert McCarron, who had held the top spot among adults for five days. Mr. Adams also unseated 11-year-old junior fisherman Mia Benedetto as the overall shore blue grand leader. Miss Benedetto had led with an 11.61-pound bluefish since opening day over a week ago.

Entrants into the shore bonito category also made an appearance for the first time this weekend. George Gomez weighed in his 6.44-pounder at 8:52 a.m. Saturday, the first shore bonito and good enough for first place. Jon Pratt followed an hour later with a 5.58-pound fish. Donald Scarpone's 4.96-pound bonito is currently third.

The leader board for shore false albacore also changed in the top three spots. Mac Hoggan weighed in a 9.70-pound albie on Saturday evening that launched him into first place, only to fall into second when Caleb Nicholson brought in an impressive 11.12-pounder 10 minutes later. The next day, Michael Drinan pushed Mr. Hoggan into third with an 9.76-pound albie.

 

Mr. Nicholson's catch - weighed in just before the deadline - won him the weekly award for largest shore albie.

Patrick Jenkinson weighed in an 8.21-pound bonito Friday night - the first to pass the eight-pound mark - taking over first place in the all-tackle boat bonito category and adding to his lead atop the grand slam leader board.

The grand slam award is given to the fisherman who has the highest total combined weight of all four species of fish. Currently, Mr. Jenkinson has weighed in an 8.73-pound bluefish, an 11.12-pound albacore and a 29-pound striped bass to go along with his bonito, bringing his grand slam total weight to 57.06 pounds.

On Sunday evening, Steve Dufresne weighed in a 38.42-pound striped bass, good enough to land him in third place in the boat division. But for the most part, activity on the striper leader board - as well as bluefish - has remained quiet.

Weekly winners for the first week of the derby, from Sept. 11 to Sept. 17, were as follows:

All tackle boat bonito, Patrick Jenkinson, 8.21 pounds. All tackle shore bonito, George Gomez, 6.44 pounds. All tackle boat bluefish, William Farnham, 12.35 pounds. All tackle shore bluefish, Robert McCarron, 11.01 pounds. All tackle boat striped bass, Emily Vanderhoop, 39.14 pounds. All tackle shore striped bass, Leo Lecuyer, 45.18 pounds. All tackle boat false albacore, Geoff Codding, 13.40 pounds. All tackle shore false albacore, Caleb Nicholson, 11.12 pounds.

 

Flyrod boat bonito, Brian Nunes-Vais, 7.06 pounds. Flyrod boat bluefish, Mark Jones, 10.89 pounds. Flyrod shore bluefish, Ronald Gill, 3.42 pounds. Flyrod boat false albacore, Phillip Cronin, 12.86 pounds. Flyrod shore false albacore, Gary Mirando, 10.86 pounds.

Junior all tackle boat bonito, William Kadison, 7.10 pounds. Junior all tackle boat bluefish, Chris Morris, 10.50 pounds. Junior all tackle shore bluefish, Mia Benedetto, 11.61 pounds. Junior all tackle boat striped bass, Jack Schlossberg, 34.72 pounds. Junior all tackle shore striped bass, Olivia Pate, 17.01 pounds. Junior all tackle boat false albacore, Kassidy Bettencourt, 8.23 pounds.